Friends with Benefits
by hahalolsmileyface
Summary: Their sex never held any form of tenderness and that was exactly how she liked it. Her back arched when his hand came up to grip her hair; her toes curled when she felt his teeth scrape her neck. When they kissed it was with a frantic sort of desperation. They both needed this. They both needed each other to provide this distraction. Him from his future; her from her loneliness. AU
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Quick note. This is strictly AU and doesn't really follow any kind of canon events. You'll even see people who shouldn't even really belong in the same timeline but please for the sake of this fic go with it lol. This is more of an experiment. To try my hand at writing again when I stopped years ago. It's been years since I read Harry Potter too but I've just started rereading the series and it's as amazing as ever.

I think I might try something new. As opposed to writing a long chapter and updating every three years (is this even an exaggeration?) I think I'm gonna write short scenes. It'll depend on the flow but with how short it is I think I could probably crank out a couple updates every two days or something. To be honest, I'm not altogether sure what plot there is to this story. It kind of feels like fluff. Let me know how this works for you.

It's also important to note, my understanding of British culture particularly is severely lacking so though I could try my hand at keeping them as in character as possible, I feel like I'd royally butcher it trying to keep them British when I have a better understanding of American culture - as I'm American.

Please don't hate me.

* * *

~1~

They were friends. Sort of.

Well, _she_ thought they were friends at least and when they'd first started this arrangement, that was really the only thing she'd been looking for. A friend; a companion; someone to talk to; someone who'd listen.

If she were being honest, the last person she thought would fill _that_ role would be Draco fucking Malfoy but here he was – here _she_ was – in bed, naked, lounging, basking.

She felt his fingers trace small patterns on her hip as he roused from slumber but she didn't particularly mind. It made her feel less lonely.

That was the purpose of this friendship after all.

"Hungry?" he asked.

She considered his words for a moment before shaking her head. "Are you?"

He was suddenly atop her and she felt a delicious heat start to stir within her at his ravenous smile. "_Starving_."


	2. Chapter 2

~2~

"Lawyer," she hummed as she stole a fry.

He scowled at that and retaliated by taking a bite out of her ice cream.

"Hey!"

"You started it," he mumbled out around the mouthful of ice cream. "I asked you if you wanted any. You said no."

"_I_ didn't want any," she agreed. "I wanted yours."

The scowl returned to his face.

"Lawyer," she repeated.

Draco huffed in exasperation. "Didn't you say just yesterday that you wanted to be a doctor? Save lives or something equally as useless?"

Hermione sputtered. "Useless? Saving lives is hardly useless. Don't you mean admirable?"

He shrugged. "Does it look like I care? My future's set for me anyway."

She bit her lip for a moment, knowing that it was a touchy subject. "So once you graduate-"

"Yes."

She saw the hard glint in his eye and knew he'd rather she dropped it. For now. She licked her ice cream and complied with his unspoken request. "Doctor is fine, but just last night – did you hear the news? – there were more ICE raids. Can you imagine? 4,000 people were deported just like that and it's hardly fair that they've come to America, come to look for a better life for themselves and their families, and yet, _politics_ dictates-"

"I know what politics dictates, Granger. Son of a political dog remember?" He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Do you know what you have to _do_ to become a lawyer, much less _stay_ one?"

She frowned in confusion. "I'm top of our class, Malfoy."

He shook his head and she had a feeling that her academic standing was far from what he meant. The moment passed in tense silence while Hermione pondered his question. Do? Pass the bar, obviously. Become the best, clearly. Nothing was impossible so long as you worked hard and put in the effort. She glanced at him; he stared broodily at nothing in particular. She knew his family wasn't entirely... well, she knew they didn't go about things the way they should. Legally, morally, ethically. He never really talked about his family much.

Then, he chuckled. "You're only at the top because you have no life."

She gasped. "I do too."

Draco cast her a lazy grin as his eyes took in her figure. "If you had a life, you wouldn't be spending so much of it in my bed."

She struggled to calm the blush rising to her cheeks. He noticed.

"For your information," she started in embarrassment, "I do spend time outside of both the pursuit of pleasure and knowledge."

He rolled his eyes. "If you're not in my bed then your nose is glued to a book."

"Except when it's not," she said pointedly. "I have friends."

"Ah, Potty and Weasel. Whatever would you do without their constant pleas for your homework."

Hermione frowned. "They do just fine on their own."

"With your nagging."

"Oh shut up," she muttered. "They could do with some of my sources, you know. They're not all bad," she insisted when he snorted.

"You're such a know-it-all, Granger," he drawled annoyedly.

"As long as I know more than you, Malfoy."

He scoffed but she knew their banter was little more than harmless flirting. She laughed as the thought crossed her mind. Could this be called flirting? There were less insulting ways to flirt, after all.

"What's so funny?" He glanced at her curiously.

She didn't answer.


	3. Chapter 3

~3~

Their sex never held any form of tenderness and that was exactly how she liked it. Her back arched when his hand came up to grip her hair; her toes curled when she felt his teeth scrape her neck. When they kissed, it was with a frantic sort of desperation and when he thrust-

When he thrust, it was without any sort of hesitation.

They both needed this. They both needed each other to provide this distraction. Him from his daunting future; her from her crushing loneliness.

"Are you close?" he grunted and she was – so close, so deliciously close –

"Almost, I can't-"

He bit her.

She came.

As always, the tightening of her core sent him wildly over the edge and he held her tighter as his hips jerked several more times.

Later, she'll remark that he broke the skin. He'll tell her his back suffered the same.

They stayed like that, joined together, for a bit. His head rested on her chest while her hands came up to play with his hair. Even as they both caught their breaths and started to drift off to sleep, they stayed like that because the intimacy that they lacked in their lives could be shared with each other. Imitation though it was.

As lovers.

As friends.

But not as a significant other. This was not to be questioned by either of them.


	4. Chapter 4

~4~

It had started innocently enough. Boy meets girl. Boy hates girl. Boy bullies girl. Said girl gets sick of his shit and punches him in the face.

It was the first and only time he'd ever been punched in his life. He wasn't quite sure how it had gotten to the point of friendship and it was impossible to really discern when the sexual tension had begun.

What mattered was that it _had _begun.

It was embarassing the way it came about, really. She'd caught him pants down, mid-thrust in an older girl in the janitor's closet at the age of 13. She yelped at the sight — tattled, of course — and he had gotten suspended, nevermind the fact that he came from one of the most prestigious families in the world. He'd been absolutely furious (and he didn't even get to cum).

He confronted her about it nearly as soon as he came back from his week-long suspension. She should've just minded her own business. He would make her life hell. She should've at least waited until he'd _cum_ for fuck's sake. All of which he'd told her only for her to say — _boo freaking hoo._

For the following two years, he'd made sure to make her life a living hell — not that it stopped her little guard dogs, Potty and Weasel, from retaliating — but she made it all the more infuriating by ignoring him.

Him! A Malfoy!

So one afternoon, sick of getting little to no reaction from his attempts to anger her (and they were laudable attempts too), he cornered little Ms. Know-It-All in the theater room below the stage. All he really wanted to do was get a reaction, really. Some semblance of anger would've been fine and he would've left it at that except as he shouted degrading insults at her and pushed her and slapped her books to the floor, he found the flush of her cheeks becoming, the fire in her eyes illuminating, the way she furiously bit her lip-

Something came over him at that and he pushed her up against the wall, covering her mouth with his own. It was a furious kiss. A moment of raw anger. His tongue slid against the roof of her mouth while shock coursed through her system. He felt exhilarated.

Then, she punched him.

"You- you!" She was holding her hand up to her mouth, at an obvious loss for words. "You just- You-"

Draco stretched his jaw and he knew there'd be a prominent bruise to the lower left side for the next few days. Still, he laughed. It hurt like hell but he couldn't stop the sense of victory that bubbled to the surface. She looked more than angry. She looked positively outraged.

He'd gotten his reaction alright and it was every bit as satisfying as he imagined it to be.


	5. Chapter 5

~5~

"You're not even trying," she complained as he stared at the scrabble board in consternation.

"God damn it, Granger. Will you please shut the fuck up while I concentrate?" At her glare, he snapped, "I said please, didn't I?"

"Your mother clearly didn't teach you the proper way to use please," she retorted.

He ignored her as he finally decided on a word: O Z

"Oz," she said blankly.

He smiled triumphantly. "I'd been trying to get rid of that letter for the last four turns."

"That's not even a word!" she argued.

"It's a place," he huffed indignantly.

"Not a real place," she pointed out.

"But a place, nonetheless. Like Camelot." He nodded his validation.

"If it's not in the dictionary, it's not a real word."

"The Z lands on a double letter tile," he said cheerfully, ignoring her.

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Just give me the damn points, Granger," he scowled.

... she did. But only because she was still ahead by 47 points.

In the end, he admitted defeat — though, it was less an admission of defeat and more a violent string of colorful words as he sulked away from the game — when she utilized a triple word tile using Q U A R R Y.

"I win," she said airily as she tallied up the points.

He said nothing, brooding over his crushing defeat.

"Your vocabulary is severely lacking," she tutted. "Maybe if you picked up a book every now and then, you would've done better than 93 points."

"It's not like we can _all_ be as insufferably big-headed as you, Granger."

"Better big-headed than air-headed," she smiled serenely.

He smirked. "Don't forget that this air head made you cum thee times this morning."

Her blush made the sudden taste of victory sweeter than any number of scrabble games he may have won, though, he knew that the day he ever won a scrabble game against her would mark the day when hell freezes over.


	6. Chapter 6

~6~

"You never really told me what you're going to do after graduation," Hermione said and she saw Draco stiffen. She might've missed the tension that seemed to lock him in place if she weren't paying attention but, as it was, she'd been doing a lot of thinking and she came to the realization that she didn't even know basic information about someone she considered her friend. "I don't think you've even mentioned what colleges you've applied to last fall."

"I haven't," he stated cooly, sipping his coffee.

She waited.

He let her.

"So?"

"So what?"

"You look like a Princeton fellow."

Draco made a face. "Why Princeton?"

She shrugged. "Seems as good a place as any. And you've also eliminated Princeton for me." At his continued silence, she clicked her tongue in disappointment. "Are you really not going to tell me?"

"I'm not."

"You're not going to tell me?" she frowned in disbelief.

Draco furrowed his brows. Then, "I'm not going to college."

To Hermione Granger, he couldn't have said anything worse.

"Are you kidding me?" she blurted in surprise. "Since when?"

He ran a hand through his hair and she couldn't help but take a moment to admire the way it caught the morning light. "It's not my decision."

"Of course it's your decision. Whose else would it be?" She hoped he took that as the rhetorical question it was meant to be but, of course, he didn't.

"My father's in a political shit-storm right now with-"

"Are you fucking kidding me, Malfoy? I thought you wanted to be an officer?"

Draco stood abruptly and threw his hands in the air. "Oh c'mon Granger, I told you that _once_ months ago. It was a joke. Can you seriously imagine me, being on the force with my dad the way he is-"

"Oh screw your dad-"

"-with my background as it is-"

"-you are _allowed _to make-"

"-no one would take me seriously-"

"-your own decisions-"

"-and whoever heard of a _Malfoy_ being such a dutiful, upstanding patriot?"

"-for your own life because it is _your own life_."

"It's not my life!" he shouted and she flinched. "When has it ever been my life? Tell me, because there has never been a single moment where I felt like anything more than a pawn. A pawn maneuvered by-" At this, he clenched his fist so tightly that his hand turned white. He swiped at the table in frustration and his coffee cup shattered against the wall. He turned his back to her as he focused on his breathing. "You don't understand," he muttered, almost to himself. "You don't understand," he repeated, closing his eyes.

There was a moment of silence. Then, he felt arms encircle his waist. He felt her press a soft kiss against his back, in the dip between his two shoulderblades. He felt her rest her forehead against that very same spot and he recognized her unspoken apology. He slowly relaxed his fist and rested it atop one of her hands. He hoped she recognized his apology as well.

She did.


	7. Chapter 7

~7~

"You'd tell me, right?"

Draco rolled his eyes as he nipped her hip. "You're gonna have to be a little more specific."

Hermione shivered, a hand coming up to grasp his hair. "You know... regarding the terms of our arrangement."

His tongue traced the small indent he'd left, soothing the area before his teeth lightly trailed down her thigh. "We're friends that fuck, Granger. What's there to tell?"

She exhaled shakily. He was starting to kiss his way up, causing her other hand to clench the bedsheets in anticipation. Steeling her resolve, she blurted out, "You'd tell me if you love me, right?"

He paused at this, his lips hovering right above her core. He lifted himself up on both elbows and gave her a look. "What on Earth possessed you to ask me that right when I'm about to eat you out?"

She tried to ignore the need that was screaming at her right now. "I'd tell you."

Draco scowled. "That's what we agreed. We laid down some ground rules – _specific_ ground rules – before we started this. Nothing's changed." The scowl slowly dropped from his face as something occurred to him. "You're not- I mean... Are you starting to-"

"_No_," she said emphatically. "No," she repeated. "I just wanted to make sure."

There was a long pause. Hermione wasn't sure if he was even gonna respond but then, "I'd tell you."

Hermione looked down at him, expecting a patronizing expression but the only thing she could see was his sincerity.

She nodded. "Okay."

"Now, can I finally bury my head in your pussy or do you have any other questions for me?"

She blushed furiously and he took that as a 'yes'.


	8. Chapter 8

~8~

"Can you turn the tv off?"

Hermione hummed distractedly as she reached for the remote. "Can you believe that?" she mumbled softly. "Illegitimate child — what a scandal."

She reluctantly pressed the power button and fell back on him, her head landing softly on his stomach. He grunted from the action but didn't say anything.

Which was unusual. He usually had something snarky to reply with.

She peaked at him through her lashes and he seemed engrossed in his phone. "What are you looking at?"

"The news."

"Which one?"

"All of them."

She frowned. "Why?"

He didn't answer.

They were always naked when they were together or, at the very least, partially so. Usually because when they _did_ get together, they would have sex at least once and never felt the pressing need to clothe themselves. It was nice. It was intimate.

Hermione turned onto her stomach, her elbows draped over him, her arms supporting her head. Her hands splayed across his abdomen and she mindlessly started tracing circles on the skin between his fourth and fifth rib.

He didn't seem to notice.

"Is it about the Riddle family?"

Perhaps, because she was on him, she felt him tense. Or perhaps, because she was staring at his face, she saw his jaw clench. For whatever reason, she knew that this family meant something to his own.

"Does your father know them?"

Draco finally stared back at her and she could tell he was contemplating something particularly complex. She wondered how complex the answer could be to warrant 8 seconds — she counted — but his answer turned out to be rather simple.

"Yes."

She frowned. She knew that there was more to it than that. Should she press him?

He had turned back to his phone, scrolling through whatever the news was cycling.

It had been all over; Tom Riddle — murdered! Leaves everything to his only heir Riddle Jr.

Except, as the articles elaborate, no one had known he'd even had an heir. Not until the executor of his will had announced it at a news conference.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

He paused at that and finally put his phone down. "You know I can't."

She knew. He never talked about his family. Not much, anyway. But she also knew he appreciated that she asked. He'd deny it, of course, except it wasn't the point.

She asked because she wanted him to know that if he _could _talk to her about it, she was there to listen and every time she did ask, he understood.

Hermione nodded her head and closed her eyes, nodding off to a dreamless sleep.

He brushed a thumb across her face and considered her for a long while after that.


	9. Chapter 9

"Come to dinner with me."

Hermione stiffened. "Like... like a date?"

He frowned. "Not exactly. Father's having a gathering – some political bullshit. I need you with me."

She stared at him before slowly closing her book. "Your parents don't even like me."

"They don't like 80% of the population," he scowled. "Will you go or not?"

She watched him maneuver the knife beautifully as he julienned the carrots. She sat up on the bed and set the book aside, curious. "Why? Don't you always take Pansy?"

"She's busy."

"One of the Greengrass girls then."

"They've already got dates."

"Bulstrode?"

Draco sighed in exasperation, sliding the carrots into a bowl and setting the knife down. He turned to look at her. "Will you _please_ come with me?"

She frowned. "I feel like I'm owed an explanation before I say yes."

He gnawed on his cheek, brow furrowed. "My father's inviting Riddle."

"The one from the news?" she gawked.

Draco turned, pouring the contents of the bowl into the simmering pot. "Yes, that one." After adjusting the temperature on the stove, he ran a hand through his hair before turning back to her. "Look, Granger. You already know I don't like going to these parties. It's all bullshit made pretty with ribbons and rainbows but the fact that Riddle's attending... It means he and my father are already discussing an arrangement of sorts and I'm not altogether sure that I want to be caught unawares when he's around."

Hermione held her breath. He rarely ever talked about his family and she knew he was struggling to voice a reasonable explanation without giving too much away. Perhaps, he'd reveal more than he'd intend? "You're confusing me."

He inhaled. "I'm being groomed to take over my father's political empire. Not just his company but, everything he's involved with," he said carefully. "Part of that has been my presence at these parties and even more so, my presence as he undergoes these discussions."

"Is that why he's discouraging a college education?"

He didn't answer but she suspected it was. She knew what it meant to him to give up the dream he'd let slip, the whisper of a wish in a moment of vulnerability.

"I feel uneasy," he admitted softly, the only sound in the room being the gentle bubbling of the pot behind him. "I wouldn't ask you under normal circumstances but I'd met Riddle all of one time and there'd been something off about him. Something... missing. I'm hoping your presence at the party will act as a buffer."

Hermione studied his face carefully, his posture. He'd crossed his arms as he stared at an invisible spot on the ground. She imagined he was thinking back to that meeting with Riddle. He, indeed, looked uneasy and even if they were just barely the basics of a friend to each other, she'd do this favor for him.

She sighed in exaggerated exasperation. "Fine. You owe me for this."

The corner of his lip tugged twitched as he was snapped back into the present. He lifted his chin up with a smirk. "Don't I give you enough already. You could fill a bath with the number of times I've made you cum."

She spluttered as she threw a pillow at him but he caught it.

Draco's smirk widened. "Then again, that's a bath _I _certainly wouldn't object to taking."

This time she threw a book and he laughed as he lifted the pillow to block it.


End file.
